Updates

Updates: Volume VI, Issue 1

Working with Allied Attorneys in the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), Alliance Defending Freedom has now helped bring nearly 200 individuals to justice for violent crimes, including the 2008 murder of Pastor Akbar Digal in the Kandhamal district of northeast India. Pastor Digal was killed when a mob of 300-400 Hindu extremists attacked his village, destroyed the church, burned Christians’ homes, then dragged him through the streets, beating and stoning him. His wife, Ludia, and young son, Obedio, saw it all from their nearby hiding place.

At the urging of EFI attorneys, Ludia filed a criminal complaint and recorded her deposition—one of many filed by other Christians who saw their loved ones killed during the riots. With that evidence, and the support of Alliance Defending Freedom, EFI attorneys have been able to secure convictions against 187 of the killers, most of whom have been sentenced to life in prison.

Charges of ‘Hate Speech’ - Vol. III, Iss. 2

In what looks like the long-awaited final word on a 10-year old case with profound implications for religious freedom in North America, Canada’s highest court has affirmed and protected a pastor’s right to free speech.

Pastor Stephen Boissoin had been punished by the Alberta Human Rights Commission for writing a letter-to-the-editor for his local paper that expressed his Christian views about homosexual behavior and his concern about materials being used in local schools to promote such behavior. Incredibly, the commission fined Boissoin $5,000 and ordered him never to say anything critical of homosexual behavior or same-sex unions for the rest of his life.

Three years ago, Alliance Defending Freedom Allied Attorney Gerald Chipeur successfully appealed Boissoin’s case to a Canadian court that reversed the commission’s ruling. That decision was appealed to the Alberta Court of Appeal, which, last October, affirmed the lower court’s ruling, exonerating Boissoin.